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We stayed here last night prior to our cruise on the Inspiration today. They offer a free shuttle from the airport. $10 PP to shuttle to port. We are with family who are parking their car at the port, so we do not have to pay the $10PP. The hotel is nice and comfortable. Each room slept four comfortably. Bathroom is in the bedroom, but that was no problem for us. Some awoke earlier than others for showers, so no one was on top of another. Internet price for this hotel was $129. I had enough points for free room. Brother stayed here on a whim (bugs in the bed at the Microtel) and his rate was $150. Everyone working here is very pleasant and helpful.

One question that I will need to check out. We also called the hotel before booking. They told us that the earliest shuttle to the Port would leave at 11:30, which I thought was a little late (I'd just like to get there sooner than that). It looks like they told you it was at 9 - 9:30. No biggie either way - I just like to know what to expect (as our entire group expects me to make the plans and know what's going on - good luck with that).

I requested a lower floor (due to lots of luggage--even though they have elevators and luggage carts). He couldn't guarantee the lower floor, but made a note of it and said for me to call back closer to arrival time and they would try their best to get one for me. At that time I'm going to ask about the shuttle again.

When I return home in late Nov.I'll make a posting here to inform you of the workings of the shuttle, okay? I did ask if they would do a pick-up FROM the cruise port and he didn't think so. But I might be able to make arrangements with the "van man". (My language, not his.) There is only one of me, but if you have a big group, maybe they WOULD do a pier to airport pickup!

Fairfield - Brandon: This is a new property and in a very populated area. Plenty of dinner options, a mall, convinence stores, home depot, etc. Brandon is a suburb of Tampa and as a whole very safe.

Sailport: This is an older property on the bay, Tampa Bay. The smell you have read about is most likely from the sewage treatment plant down the bay from there. There is a post about this some where on here within the last 3 or 4 days. I can't remember if it is on this thread or another Tampa thread. The original poster was asking about beaches near the Chase Suites.

Hotels near port: There is a new Embassy Suites hotel right down the street from the port. It is not as expensive as the Marriot or Wyndam (it has change names, but forgot the new name). You might also look at hotels in the downtown area.

Just a note about that new Embassy Suites - Convention Center. They called me last night and will not be open until October 23rd. We made a reservation there back in June for October 8th and they called last night to say "sorry, construction is not complete". So they are moving us to the Embassy - Westshore. I was going to cancel completely and go with the Marriott...but the Westshore is going to not only be free (because we were using points) they cut the number of points in half for the inconvenience.
Since we are going to 2 days....it was a choice of $400.00 for 2 nights or free.

Hubby ... DIAMOND (every ship except the Carnivale)
Me ... DIAMOND (every ship starting with the Tropicale)
22 year old son ... DIAMOND (every ship starting with the Tropicale) ONLY Double Milestone under the age of 21 in the world.....woo hoo!!
Showing the world what a kid with Autism can do!!!
25 year old son... finally DIAMOND (college got in the way). About to "cruise more than all of us under the water" as a. Naval Officer.

We just stayed int he Doubletree Westshore and these were my findings. First off let me say the best thing was the price and the shuttle. The room and the lobby were completely outdated, but they were in the process of remodleing the hotel so it may be great in just a couple of months. The first night we stayed in the executive suites because you get free cont. breakfast, and a reception in the evening. Well, we were not in at the time of the reception (so I can not comment), but the breakfast was just okay. Alittle fruit, pastry and toast (no bagel which is my favorite breakfast bread), I thought it could have been alittle better. Not that I staved, just not much varity.

I did cancel the executive suite for the return trip and made it a regular room, which looked exactly like the executive. There is not a reception on Sunday and the breakfast I didn't feel like was worth $20.00.

The thing that was the best was the shuttle. It was very prompt picking us up at the airport and everyother place that we used it. We used the shuttle from airport, to Wal Mart, to port, back from port, to and from the mall and back to airport. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes for the shuttle.

Overall the stay was okay, but if they get everything remolded it will be better.

So they are moving us to the Embassy - Westshore. I was going to cancel completely and go with the Marriott...but the Westshore is going to not only be free (because we were using points) they cut the number of points in half for the inconvenience.

Why were you going to cancel with the Embassy Westshore? Have you heard something nasty about that place? Curious because that's where we've booked for March and if it's nasty we still have time to change to somewhere else.

Why were you going to cancel with the Embassy Westshore? Have you heard something nasty about that place? Curious because that's where we've booked for March and if it's nasty we still have time to change to somewhere else.

Kim

They were originally booked at the new Embassey at Channelside near the port. That hotel will not be done in time for their cruise. They where thinking of staying at the Marriot Channelside.
Embassy made them an offer they couldn't refuse in the Westshore area. It is a good hotel and there are many things to do around there also.
I think I got that right.

Well I'm glad to hear the Westshore is alright. I thought it was but that's not how I read her posting. She said they were going to move her there and she was going to cancel and move to Marriott BUT she got Westshore free with 1/2 points so decided to go with it because she would save a substantial amount of money. Good enough reason for anyone but it was the "was going to cancel and move but" that triggered my question.

Well I'm glad to hear the Westshore is alright. I thought it was but that's not how I read her posting. She said they were going to move her there and she was going to cancel and move to Marriott BUT she got Westshore free with 1/2 points so decided to go with it because she would save a substantial amount of money. Good enough reason for anyone but it was the "was going to cancel and move but" that triggered my question.

Kim

Jessemon's assessment was correct. If you will read the very first sentences of my post:

"Just a note about that new Embassy Suites - Convention Center. They called me last night and will not be open until October 23rd. We made a reservation there back in June for October 8th and they called last night to say "sorry, construction is not complete". So they are moving us to the Embassy - Westshore."

You would see the only reason we not staying at the Convention Center is because it will not be open in time.

My only reason for considering a switch to the Marriott-Waterside was because I really wanted to stay in the Channelside area. However, I never told Embassy that I was going to switch to Marriott. I just hate last minute surprises and was "thinking out loud" (if you can be ut loud : on a message board) with the Marriott comment.

Embassy Suites offered the Westshore relocation at the reduce points level, because of our inconvenience all on their own (not under any duress of me "switching" to Marriott) ... which I think was very nice of them.

Over all, I am pleased with the way they handled it. Things happen..that's life. However, I booked the Convention Center room back in June and my limited (but obviously noticeable frustration) was due to the fact that after having this reservation for 4 months...I got 9 days notice that it wasn't going to happen.

Hubby ... DIAMOND (every ship except the Carnivale)
Me ... DIAMOND (every ship starting with the Tropicale)
22 year old son ... DIAMOND (every ship starting with the Tropicale) ONLY Double Milestone under the age of 21 in the world.....woo hoo!!
Showing the world what a kid with Autism can do!!!
25 year old son... finally DIAMOND (college got in the way). About to "cruise more than all of us under the water" as a. Naval Officer.

They were originally booked at the new Embassey at Channelside near the port. That hotel will not be done in time for their cruise. They where thinking of staying at the Marriot Channelside.
Embassy made them an offer they couldn't refuse in the Westshore area. It is a good hotel and there are many things to do around there also.
I think I got that right.

You got it absolutely correct.!! Thanks!
Both ES are Catagory 4 hotels where the points are concerned.
They ended up moving us there for almost half the points we would have used to stay at the Convention Center for our inconvenience.
So, yes, that was an offer hubby could not refuse!! : )

Hubby ... DIAMOND (every ship except the Carnivale)
Me ... DIAMOND (every ship starting with the Tropicale)
22 year old son ... DIAMOND (every ship starting with the Tropicale) ONLY Double Milestone under the age of 21 in the world.....woo hoo!!
Showing the world what a kid with Autism can do!!!
25 year old son... finally DIAMOND (college got in the way). About to "cruise more than all of us under the water" as a. Naval Officer.

I was wondering which is a better choice: Crown Plaza Hotel or Holiday Inn Express Rocky Point? We enjoy walking; shopping; and sight-seeing. We have enough points for either hotel so it's not a money issue. We are cruising on the Miracle on the Sunday and are arriving on the Friday mid-morning. There are 9 of us--3 teens and three couples. I would love some help picking one of these hotels.
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Hi folks. We were away on a one week cruise to Alaska out of Seattle. Not the best cruise we have had (bad weather in all ports of call), but it sure beats the heck out of being at work. Just getting settled in again. Jessemon and Suncoastgirl - Thanks for the help.

teanbean16 - Which Crowne Plaza are you looking at? If it happens to be the one in East Tampa, in the area of Martin Luther King Jr Blvd and I-75 (address - 10221 Princess Palm Ave, Tampa, FL) - it's a nice, large hotel. The hotel is in a business park. Not much of anything around there other than corporate office buildings. It's on the far opposite side of town from the airport, actually outside the E city limits of Tampa. If you have a car, it's not far to get on I-75 and go S a few miles to State Road 60. In that area, there are all sorts of restaurants within a mile either side of I-75, and a very large mall just E of I-75 on SR60. It's not hard to drive to the port from this side of town - just take SR60 to the West from I-75, and don't make any turns until you get to the ports. There will be large lighted overhead signs, and the road will force you into a left hand turn. Can't miss it.

As for the Holiday Inn Express on Rocky Point - I've stayed there a time or two myself. It's your usual Holiday Inn Express. Nice property. Right on the water, with a really good restaurant next door - Bahama Breeze. There are others in the area, close by. For shopping, you would have to get a ride down to either the Westshore Plaza or the International Mall (it's rather upscale and expensive - Westshore is better for us common folks). There are theaters at Westshore Mall, some restaurants, and a food court. Rocky Point is only a few miles from the airport (you can see the planes taking off and making approaches to the airport). It would be much quicker to get here if you are flying in and don't have a car. It's quiet, safe, and clean out there.

If you have any specific questions, let me know.

optmax - It's been quite a while since we covered Sailport on this thread. I'm quite familiar with this location, since the office for my employer is right next door. We used to house people at this hotel for business. These days, we either use the Holiday Inn Express or Chase Suites on Rocky Point. The USAF and other branches of the military put people in this hotel as well, when there's no place to stay at MacDill AFB. The area is like I mention just above regarding the Holiday Inn Express. It's down the block, on the other side of the main road (Courtney Campbell Causeway). This hotel is a few stories high, with nothing on the first level but parking (it's close to the water). A majority of the rooms face the water with small balconies. The units are basically little vacation condo's. They have a small kitchen/dining area, a small living room, bedroom, bathroom, and a couple of bunk beds in the hall (kind of in-set into side of the corridor). The units aren't fancy, but very adequate and liveable. I've been in a number of the units, and they are all basically the same. The property is clean. There is a small beach area. I don't think they have a pool. If any other questions, just ask.

Welcome home Ken. Hope Alaska was kind to you. Not to hot...not to cold. Not to cloudy or rainy.
Well, the weather is getting nicer here in Tampa. Almost time to do that hotel photo thing. What do you think?
Jeff

Hi Ken...sorry to hear about the weather. Glad you still had a good time.
We went in July 2005 and were blessed with perfect weather every day. I could not believe it! We did the Southbound from Whittier to Vancouver.
What a trip.

Just a heads up...I was the "spy" that was suppose to report on the new Embassy Suites - Convention Center. However, they blew my cover! They won't be open until the end of October...sot they had to switch us to the ES-Westshore.

Glad you were on the cruise, because you missed my "whining" about it. I had made the reservations back in June and they waited until 9 days before we were to arrive to say..."sorry...we have to move you". On the upside, they recovered the fumble by cutting the number of points we had to use for those 2 days by almost one-half. ( Both hotels are Catagory 4 hotels that require 30,000 points per night. )

So we are headed out Friday for a couple of days of R&R before we get on the cruise ship. We are just going to take a taxi down to Channelside late Saturday afternoon and "pretend" we are staying there. LOL

Thanks for all the tips you provide and may your next cruise have:
calm seas, warm days, cool drinks!!!

Hubby ... DIAMOND (every ship except the Carnivale)
Me ... DIAMOND (every ship starting with the Tropicale)
22 year old son ... DIAMOND (every ship starting with the Tropicale) ONLY Double Milestone under the age of 21 in the world.....woo hoo!!
Showing the world what a kid with Autism can do!!!
25 year old son... finally DIAMOND (college got in the way). About to "cruise more than all of us under the water" as a. Naval Officer.

I know you all have been very helpful with a lot of suggestions, but we are coming in to town 3 nights before our cruise, and want to take our son to see the beach. We were thinking of staying on the beach somewhere in the clearwater / st.pete's area for the first couple of nights, and were looking at the Holiday Inn at Indian Beach. Any comments? What about the trolley system in that area? Is it safe for tourists? We were thinking of staying there for 2 nights, taking a cab - then using the trolley in the area; and then taking a cab back to Residence Inn in downtown Tampa, and using the trolley system over there. Any thoughts on this from the locals?

Thanks in advance for any responses I can get. I have been reading these posts about hotels in and around Tampa but, no one has mentioned the town of Brandon. Hubby and I are booked along with another couple for our pre cruise on the Miracle Oct 22. Is this a safe area or should I try to rebook elsewhere? Thanks again.

Thanks in advance for any responses I can get. I have been reading these posts about hotels in and around Tampa but, no one has mentioned the town of Brandon. Hubby and I are booked along with another couple for our pre cruise on the Miracle Oct 22. Is this a safe area or should I try to rebook elsewhere? Thanks again.

Where in Brandon? Like all areas there are safe areas and not so safe.